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Zaderatsky - Orchestrated

When Jonathan Orwig posted his rendering and treatment of a number of short piano pieces by obscure Soviet era composer, Vsevolod PetrovichZaderatsky, 1891 - 1953, married to Valentina(!) I was fascinated by their style and "compact" quality. I took an interest in the music and asked Jonathan if he might be able to share a few of the midi files with me. He most graciously agreed and within 10 minutes, they were on my desktop!
Thanks again Jonathan, I appreciate it very much and you are an excellent fellow!!
It is a pity Zaderatsky was forever at odds with the Soviet cultural regime, but he most certainly was. Busted twice for cultural wrong doing, the first time at age 26, in or near 1917. His work was taken from him on these and other occasions, for “study”, never to be returned. Symphonies, Operas, song cycles based on traditional Russian folk music, his literary writing, journals, the works. Every effort was made to erase his work and his ideas. He was imprisoned twice, the Gulag, forced to record his musical ideas and composition on blank telegram forms. I found 1 CD with his preludes, along with piano music by Shostakovitch, in searching the internet, he is not mentioned in my Oxford Dictionary of Music, either. His biographical info can be found here: Zaderatsky Bio

Anyway, I wanted to try orchestrating a few of these little piano pieces, due to their novel content and lyrical appeal. Briefly, I found some of the midi files contained just 2 tracks, left and right hand piano parts, others had 2 or even 3 parts , for one hand or the other. I made multiple copies of all left and right hand parts and then proceeded to strip away the layers of notes, using the Key Editor in Cubase, which is a midi file type editor. So, first the top line of notes, all the way through, then the next, often duplicating parts and/or transposing later, then experiment with assigning a variety of voices, and then of course, the mixing. However, it should be noted, I did not take any notes away, nor did I add any in, using just what came in the midi files.
The 4 pieces I chose to orchestrate, using only the GPO4 and ARIA Player and SIR1 reverb effect, are, in order of appearance in the medley; Circus Horsemen, Self, MerryGo Round and March - Lament.

Re: Zaderatsky - Orchestrated

Well, what a treat! After having just heard (and posted my admiration for) the Zaderatsky piano pieces to see that you have orchestrated a selection of them. And brilliantly so! Wonderful work here. Kudos. Many years ago when I was a composer/arranger/orchestrator for PBS TV, had I heard this I would have instantly recommended you for hire. Thanks for posting.

Re: Zaderatsky - Orchestrated

Hello Tom!
Well, thank you very much indeed!! That is a wonderful compliment and I am very glad you listened to and enjoyed these little arrangements! Even though my workflow was unconventional, I managed to do these 4 quite quickly. How quickly? I asked Jonathan for the midi files 2 weeks ago today and the allure of the music was simply irresistible! If it wasn't for this listening room and its great membership, it would not have happened. I too must praise Jonathan for uncovering this music and sharing it on the LR.
I wonder how much of Zaderatsky's music has survived, beyond these piano miniatures and the 24 Preludes I have read about??
Thank you again, Tom!
Best regards,sd cisco

Re: Zaderatsky - Orchestrated

Thank you Ron and thank you David! I am glad both of you have listened to this little collection and found merit in it! While working through the arrangements, I could not help but think that Zaderatsky had actually compressed the orchestral information, into the piano compositions. I felt sort of like I was "unzipping" a Zip file, that the composer had bigger ideas in mind in the first place and had covertly hidden or coded the orchestral cues and clues, within each piece.
Thanks again for listening and commenting!
Best regards,sd cisco

Re: Zaderatsky - Orchestrated

Just came back from Spain and I am now diving deep into the Russian moods. I listened with care and very intens, because it was the first music since the 5th. This is really great music and a more than great arrangement (though I don't know the originals). Indeed very enjoyable and made with mastership.

Re: Zaderatsky - Orchestrated

I have been considering doing the same with some piano works
and what you did really inspires me to go right ahead and do it...

Thanks for sharing,

~Yudit~

Hi there Yudit!
Thank you so much for your compliments and for listening in the first place!
When I listened to a 19th Century piano piece you posted some time ago, I thought the very same thing. That the piece would lend itself to arranging and that it would no doubt be fun to do and leave gratifying results. To do it the way I did it, strip away layers, like peeling an onion! Each stripped away part is given its own track and voice, and then work it out from there.
Thanks again and take care!
Best regards,sd cisco

Re: Zaderatsky - Orchestrated

Originally Posted by Raymond62

Just came back from Spain and I am now diving deep into the Russian moods. I listened with care and very intens, because it was the first music since the 5th. This is really great music and a more than great arrangement (though I don't know the originals). Indeed very enjoyable and made with mastership.

Thanks,

Raymond

Hello Raymond!
I was tracking your Spanish vacation from the get-go and am glad to see you back in one piece! I find organized vacations most stressful and upsetting. I hate being displaced out of my familiar environment and am a creature of habit, with exacting standards, and suffer if I am forced to leave my usual surroundings. In other words, I have traveled but wasn't meant for it.
I am glad you heard and appear to have enjoyed these little arrangements!
I feel great sympathy for Zaderatsky and the Kafkaesque horrors of his life and times. If life had treated him better, I am sure he would have taken his rightful place among his contemporaries and that his full body of work would be known and loved, the world over.
I saved to my desktop the improvised waltz you posted a while back. Want you to know I totally enjoy it and appreciate where it was coming from!
Best regards,sd cisco